Running From Him (ManxMan) ✔️

Chapter 23: To Tell You The Truth: Pt 2

🏃‍♂️Clark's POV🏃‍♂️

"I have feelings for you."

After hearing Santiago's . . . confession, I kept my eyes drilled to the floor. What do I do? I thought helplessly. One of my best friends just said that he likes me. What the heck do I do?!

Santiago frowned out of worry when he noticed how quiet I was. Biting his lip, he wrung his hands worriedly.

"I know that you might not have wanted to hear this, Clark," He continued, his voice speeding up adorably. I sighed softly under my breath. Of course, I didn't want to hear this, it made things complicated and I was so enjoying my life being simple. Santiago noticed that I still didn't look happy, but he continued to speak.

"But, ever since I first saw you on that train, I-I thought that you were beautiful, Clark." I bit my bottom lip and squeezed my eyes shut as a way to shield myself from Santiago's words. "I thought that I should get to know you first before trying anything but by the time I was sure that I would want to be with you, you were already dating Liam."

I sighed and shook my head.

"Go ahead." I croaked brokenly, staring at the floor.

"I want to be fine with being your friend. I mean, I'm fine with it. I accepted it." Santiago told me, his voice shaking slightly. "But last night, it was . . . it was as if everything that I had been holding back for so long came crashing down and I couldn't help myself from taking the opportunity to dance with you. What I did after that was completely uncalled for. I'm sorry."

I sat forward in my seat, folding my hands together and resting my forearms on my knees. Santiago was baring everything for me. He was leaving himself completely vulnerable to whatever I had to say. What do I do?

Santiago took my silence as the last opportunity to say something and spoke again.

"Clark," He started, his voice choppy and broken. I clenched my eyes shut again, not being able to handle it. "Clark, if you still want me around, or would consider dating me, please say something. Let me know, please."

I wanted to continue to avoid Santiago's eyes, it would be much easier that way, but I couldn't keep it up and finally looked up at him. He was staring at me, obviously, but the look that he was giving me was not what I expected. Yes, there was an affection so strong that it hurt my heart, but even more present was the look of resignation. Santiago knew what I was going to say, and he had accepted that.

"Santiago," I whispered, watching as his eyes watered with unshed tears. He clenched his fists and released a choppy breath. He was preparing himself. He knew that I would hurt him. "Will- uh, can I get a bit of time- space! I need space to get used to this um, and I think that you need some time away from me to . . . get over your feelings."

Santiago took in a shuddering breath and gave me a sad smile. He raised up his right hand and wiped his eyes lightly. He started blinking and shook his head.

"That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be." Santiago joked, releasing a wet chuckle. He bit his lip and his smile dropped from his face. The longing look that Santiago gave me made me shudder and wonder if he would say something else. But Santiago simply gave me a curt nod and opened the door to leave my room. "I'll see you later Clark."

Santiago walked out of the room and when I heard the door shut close, I released a heavy breath. It was done, he was gone. A tear fell down my cheek and before it reached my chin, dozens of others followed it. I brought my hand up to wipe them away but was shocked when even more came. I was crying. And for the life of me, I didn't know why.